


Garden of Spirals: Rewinding View

by EmiyaShirou525



Series: Nasuverse inspired Boku no Hero Academia Tales [1]
Category: Kara no Kyoukai | The Garden of Sinners, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Adopted Eri (My Hero Academia), Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead Adopts Eri, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety Disorder, Bakusquad (My Hero Academia), Dekusquad (My Hero Academia), Eri-centric (My Hero Academia), Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Izumi Kouta is a Good Friend, Mental Health Issues, Midoriya Izuku is a Good Friend, Midoriya Izuku is a Ray of Sunshine, Minor Original Character(s), Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, Parental Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead, Parental Yamada Hizashi | Present Mic, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pro Hero Midoriya Izuku, Pro Hero Toogata Mirio, Protective Toogata Mirio, Quirk Discrimination (My Hero Academia), Quirkless Discrimination (My Hero Academia), References to Depression, Suicidal Midoriya Izuku, Suicidal Thoughts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:34:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28186224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmiyaShirou525/pseuds/EmiyaShirou525
Summary: A series of suicides are happening near an abandoned building in Musutafu, their victims being Quirkless, Villanous-Quirked and Mutant-Quirked people, so a 16-year-old Eri Aizawa, who has the dual ability of understand "Life" and "Death" itself, and she's determined to find the truth to save people dear to her and understand more about mental health and how to improve it.
Relationships: Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead & Eri, Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead & Midoriya Izuku, Eri & Izumi Kouta & Midoriya Izuku, Eri & Midoriya Izuku, Eri & Toogata Mirio, Izumi Kouta & Midoriya Izuku
Series: Nasuverse inspired Boku no Hero Academia Tales [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2151915
Comments: 4
Kudos: 19
Collections: NWA Holiday Exchange 2020





	Garden of Spirals: Rewinding View

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Watsittoyou](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Watsittoyou/gifts).



> TW: this story contains elements about anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts and actions, as well as a study about discrimination, abuse and its consequences towards people, so if any of you feel uncomfortable about the story, or it reminds you about a bad experience, please be very careful.
> 
> Also, it contains spoilers up to the most recent chapters of the manga, so please, if you aren't to date, please do so to avoid any spoilers.
> 
> Boku no Hero Academia belongs to Kohei Horikoshi and Shonen Jump, while Kara no Kyoukai belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Takeshi Takeuchi, as well as Type-Moon. The only thing I own is this story.

Satsuki Asui had a normal life at sixteen years old.

She had two parents who loved her, two older siblings who cared about her, true friends in her high school, Yuuei, where she was in General Education, wishing to become a therapist to heal people in the process.

By all means, she only felt like she wanted to die once in her life so far, and it had been three years since she had that urge in her mind.

But, despite all of that, she was on her way to death.

She felt an immense attraction to a certain building, an old shopping district who closed a few years ago, and with her “ **Frog** ” quirk, she was easily able to jump inside, to then find an elevator, which took her into the thirteenth floor…

She could see an overlooking view, the entire city, its lights shining in red, green, blue, yellow and white undertones, the sounds of cars and other vehicles filling the void of silence in the process.

“Fall.”

She remembered the bullying she endured in middle school, because even after the Paranormal Liberation War and anti-bullying campaigns promoted by many pro-heroes and heroines, including Deku, Froppy, her own sister, and Whisper, among others… People still managed to find ways to abuse others.

Those feelings hurt, but they weren’t as strong as they were now… In this moment, they were at least one hundred times stronger than they used to be.

“FALL.”

A few more steps, and everything would be over.

No more voices, no more looking at her back for mean comments and back-stabbings.

No more hate for being a mutant-quirked person.

**“FALL.”**

She took her last breath, before listening to the voice’s advice and began her fall…

Soon, she would be at peace.

The blissful peace only nothingness could provide.

 **“NO!”** Screamed a voice before grabbing her with a tape like substance, stopping her fall, but she was still at least thirteen meters above the ground. “Here’s Cellophane, I require an ambulance and support system, found a jumper near the Fujou building.”

Satsuki did the only thing she could at the moment, she passed out from the stress, her eyes rolling out because of the dizziness of the rough change between heights…

* * *

When she woke up, she was in the hospital, surrounded by her older siblings, Samidare, who was twenty, and Tsuyu, who was twenty-six, and was immediately hugged by both, whose voices were whispering reassurances and kind words, although those sounded quite blurred since they were struggling to contain their tears.

Their parents would arrive by tomorrow’s morning, and took the first train they could after hearing the news.

Surprisingly, she found that other people were in the room with her aside from her family.

Kouta Izumi, one of her closest friends, and student from General Education as well, stood there alongside Eri Aizawa, another of her closest friends, carrying a basket with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, an acquired taste she got from her older sister, since various jellies are her favorite snack.

Kouta grew up quite a lot, having a height of 160 centimeters, keeping his old hat with two horns as well, and he wore a white long sleeved shirt with blue jeans and red shoes quite similar to the ones made for quirkless people, as he wore those to respect and support them.

Eri, on the other hand, only measured 150 centimeters, her hair was shorter when compared to her childhood, only going up to her shoulders, and she had to wear red glasses since her eyesight deteriorated quite a bit. Her clothing was a red kimono, a white long sleeved jacket, and brown sneakers.

She remembered that Deku said they both had similar builds to Chargebolt and Earphone Jack when they were younger, being more petite and focusing into agility and support rather than direct combat.

Well, except Eri, since she could fight with a knife, although she was still a bit rusty, while Kouta used water spheres as distractions to escape, while she used her long distance jumps and tongue to help them when necessary.

“Glad to see you’re well, Sacchin.” Said Eri in a warm tone, while taking one of the sandwiches to put it on a plate, before giving it to the young frog girl.

“Would you care for some sea salt ice cream as well?” Asked Kouta, to which Satsuki nodded, so he went to the small fridge and opened a Haagen Dazs pot, to then put it in her plate as well.

“Why did you try to kill yourself, ribbit?” Asked Tsuyu, breaking the somewhat comfortable atmosphere, making everyone feel very uncomfortable.

She really needed to stop being so blunt, especially in moments like this.

“Well… I went to buy some food for the dorms but, I started to listen to a voice in my head, it was whispering “fall, fall, fall” a lot, and those negative feelings from middle school returned a hundred times stronger, ribbit, and then I don’t remember anything else…” Said Satsuki while starting to cry, it was like someone hypnotized her, and wanted her to die…

“They should really demolish that old Fujou building, ribbit.” Said Samidare. “Three people already took their lives there…”

Had Satsuki died, she would have been the fourth victim.

The first one was Nanako Yamagishi, a quirkless fourteen-year-old girl, who somehow managed to sneak in before taking her own life after years of bullying and abuse.

The second one was Haruki Moriyama, who was fifteen-years old at the time of his death, and his body was made of plants, similar to Kamui Woods and Vine… He created a stair of trees to enter, to then end himself as well.

Finally, the third victim was Nao Kinoshita, a non-binary fourteen-year-old person, who’s quirk was similar to Detective Tsukauchi, but stronger, as anyone within a ten-meter radius from them couldn’t lie, making them feared as a possible villain, that being the main reason for plunging into their dead.

All of them represented social groups who were abused ever since the quirked surpassed the non-quirked in numbers, and were still abused, albeit less than before, but the problem was still there.

“Well, for now we should try to be there for Sacchin, and do our best to support her, ribbit.” Said Tsuyu in a kind, yet still sad tone. “Remember, even if you’re apart from us, we will always be fighting for you, and as long as you remember us, you won’t be alone.”

Those words drove Satsuki to tears, and her siblings and best friends hugged her tightly to offer comfort, to let her know she was safe, and no one could ever hurt her like that again…

* * *

After staying for four hours, Shouta Aizawa, also known as Eraserhead, came to take out the kids (not before leaving some chamomile tea bags and a kind letter, of course), to finally return to Yuuei, ready to protect his children at any cost.

Those suicides were too strange to be a coincidence.

But he learned that he had an ability to attract mysterious people into his life, and needed to be there for them.

Especially after caring about Eri for the past ten years.

He wouldn’t change that for anything of course, since he ended up loving her as if she were his biological daughter, but he wanted to ensure her health, because she grew up to be quite sickly in some aspects.

Not counting her strange ability to see death.

Like “ **One for All** ”, there are quirks that should be never revealed to the world at any cost, and hers was undoubtedly one of them.

Only he, Izuku “Deku” Midoriya, Mirio “Lemillion” Togata, Hizashi “Present Mic” Yamada, Nedzu, Kouta Izumi, Satsuki Asui and their mentor, Touko Aozaki, knew about that ability.

That woman was known in the support industry for her unique quirk, “ **Magic Maker** ”, which allowed her to create puppets to replace any body part with synthetic tissues (he would be forever thankful since his new leg was very strong and durable, allowing him to return to work), plus other abilities such as “ **Rune Magic** ” and “ **Mystic Eyes of Enchantment.** ”

He knew she was probably hiding a lot more abilities, but decided to not ask as a way to show his gratitude.

Going back to Eri, her quirks were “ **Rewind** ” and “ **Mystic Eyes of Death Perception** ”.

She was able to see and comprehend the concepts of both “Life” and “Death”, although the latter could only be used for a short time per day, since it could cause severe headaches and bouts of anemia…

* * *

When Eri awoke in the hospital after the Overhaul raid, she claimed that she could see black lines and dots on everything.

In people, benches and tables, in apples, in the ceiling… And when she used a fruit knife into a chair, it fell apart like it was made from butter.

After that shock, she tried to pluck her own eyes because of the fear and visions, as she said she saw everyone in the room fall apart into pieces of flesh… Her fear was so strong that she had to be put down to sleep by Midnight’s quirk to not cause her more suffering.

To his surprise, he found Touko Aozaki outside Eri’s room after everyone else left, and she had a gift for the young child.

A pair of red glasses.

Apparently, those were strong enough to cancel most eye based quirks from people, and since she had experience with people who had similar problems, she thought they could help her the most.

He thanked her, to then take his yellow sleeping bag, in order to have some sleep as well… Because he would surely need it in the following days.

* * *

“Dad, I’m going to sleep, please take care.” Said Eri from her room, snapping Eraserhead’s mind away from his memory.

“You too Eri, I hope you sleep well.” Said Eraserhead, to then go to the kitchen to start preparing some rich iron foods for Eri’s special diet.

He decided to prepare some Mexican food, since she liked it’s taste and it had tons of components rich in iron too.

He mashed some red and pinto beans he had previously boiled, to then put some minced onion and garlic in an iron cast pan, including some olive oil, salt and pepper, in order to stir them until they were tender and with a rich smell.

After that he dropped the beans to mix them with the spice infused oil, to then add some chopped tomatoes and a pinch of smoked paprika and oregano to enhance its flavor, before letting the newly made refried beans rest, to then focus into the meat portion.

While looking in the fridge, he found some boneless salmon fillets marinated in a mixture of soy and maple sauce, to then take another pan in order to cook it until it was tender, to then let it rest as well.

Finally, he grabbed some plastic containers to fill them with the refried beans and fried salmon, before taking some flour tortillas to place those close to them, so Eri could prepare herself burritos or tacos while he was patrolling.

Thankfully, she could take some milk-free yogurt and various seeds as her breakfast, so he didn’t need to prepare those.

After making sure everything was in order, he went to his room to finally let himself sleep…

* * *

When Eri woke up, she was still shocked and sad after learning that Sacchin’s was very close to take away her own life…

But then she remembered that many people had different stories, and each one of them knew how much weight their wounds bore, so the best course of action was to know the main catalyst behind those cases, what made them more vulnerable to a possible suggestion-type quirk in the first place.

Thankfully, it was Saturday, so she wouldn’t have classes for the next two days, which gave her some time to gather new information.

To start her day, she went to take her classic attire, that red kimono with a white jacket, alongside her shoes and sarashi, to then go to the bathroom.

After a few minutes she appeared fully changed, so she put on her glasses before going to take her breakfast.

When she saw the carefully packed refried beans and salmon, she decided that having a breakfast burrito wouldn’t be so bad, plus she got a chance to taste some mozzarella cheese as well.

Despite knowing that eating dairy based foods could be a bit risky, doing so only once or twice per month wouldn’t hurt her at all, and since she already ate the ice cream, those delicious foods would be out of her reach for at least a few weeks.

She turned on the microwave before taking the tortillas, to then spread the beans as a base, following by adding the salmon, to finally add some cheese on top, before folding it and putting it inside the mechanical oven for at least a few minutes.

Meanwhile, she took an iron fortified orange juice bottle, and some sliced apple sticks as dessert.

Because she would never say no to apples.

When her burrito was ready, she took it out before thanking the gods for her meal, to then start eating slowly.

If it wasn’t for her glasses she would see those lines the entire time…

She was like a glass canon and healer at the same time, but fighting against a physically stronger foe would probably give her a huge disadvantage.

But she needed to learn what kind of person they were about to face with.

Deku said he would personally go to the Fujou building, alongside Froppy and Cellophane, since he was the one who saved Satsuki, plus in case something else went wrong, other heroes from the Dekusquad and Bakusquad agencies would be called up for back-up as well.

Just in case they couldn’t do anything or something went wrong, another team made up of her dad, her uncle Present Mic, Lemillion, Kouta and her would be sent into the building, to gather enough data to solve the mystery once and for all.

After finishing her meal, washing the dishes and her teeth, she was ready to go to the Garan no Dou agency, were she would discuss a possible origin of the suicide epidemic near that horrible Fujou building.

The agency was somewhat close to Yuuei, so she would only have to walk for twenty minutes before reaching it.

While walking in the street, she remembered everything that led up to this point…

* * *

When she was younger, she remembered being loved by her parents.

Small forms of love, like being fed healthy food, going to the meadow to play and watch the trees, drawing things with crayons and colored pencils, being held by her mother…

All of that ended when she accidentally rewinded her father out of existence.

Her mother, who got so scared, sent her to live with her grandfather, because she couldn’t accept that her daughter had such a “ **villainous** ” quirk.

For a while, things weren’t so bad, until her grandfather fell ill as well…

And Kai Chisaki, the scary man she had to live with, showed his true colors.

He used his quirk, “Overhaul”, to destroy her body, in order to collect many tissues, including blood, bone marrow, muscle and bone, to then recreate her in order to leave her good as new.

What neither of them know, is that Eri became a being “ **submerged in death** ”.

Because she was killed and revived in short intervals of time, her soul couldn’t fully leave her body, pretty much torturing it to see her body being blown up and restored countless times, slowly preparing her to unlock a unique ability…

After being rescued by Izuku, he unleashed 100% of his true power, attacking Overhaul with everything he got, while Eri was using her quirk to restore his wounds as much as he caused them…

That’s when she saw the lines and dots for the first time.

Izuku’s quirk caused them to slowly cover up his body, meaning that if it wasn’t for her, he would’ve exploded, or at least destroyed his body so much he would’ve died from blood loss and strain… While her own quirk made those lines small, so small that she could’ve rewinded him into a child at best, or erased him out of existence at worst.

So she had to keep a steady flow to not cause either of those results… Causing an enormous strain to her head.

She felt she was going to explode, her vision was going blurry, but she had to keep going for the first person who showed her a small bit of kindness, she had to!

When she finally heard Izuku give his winner speech, knocking Overhaul out with a kick to the head, she finally let herself fade away…

For she did something good with her quirk once in her short life.

* * *

After waking up in the hospital, she still saw those lines.

There were in every single thing.

The small table they set up for her, her plate with three apples, the walls, the ceiling, the air conditioner, the people around her…

So she did the only thing she could do…

Ask about it.

“Um, why are there scribbles all over the room?” Said Eri with extreme confusion.

“Scribbles?” Asked a nurse with a confused look, before changing into a caring smile. “There are no scribbles sweetie, there’s a chance your eyes are stressed, so please make sure to rest a lot, okay?”

After nodding, she just started to cut the apples with her fruit knife, in order to eat small pieces of them at the time.

She didn’t know why but, those lines filled her with an immense amount of dread… It was like her fingers could sink into them.

To satisfy her curiosity, she took the fruit knife and traced the lines of her small table.

It fell apart into pieces like it was made of soft butter.

She screamed after that, but not before she saw everything crumble apart…

“Eri, are you okay? Please answer!” Said Eraserhead while coming with the nurse and a pair of doctors, when they saw the table broken in Eri’s bed.

There’s no way a small child could break something like that with sheer force, not even with a knife…

Meanwhile, Eri just wanted the nightmare to be over, so she tried to pluck out her own eyes via instinct, only to be stopped by Eraserhead and the nurse, but she still kept screaming.

“Get away from me! I’m going to make you fall apart, please go away!”

They didn’t listen to her, and Eraserhead hugged to make her calm down while using his quirk, waiting until Midnight was in the room, to then use her gas to make her fall asleep…

* * *

When she woke up a few hours later, she found that Eraserhead was at her side, holding a small gift box before opening it, revealing a pair of red glasses…

“Someone said this could help you avoid seeing those lines.” Said the underground hero in a neutral, but caring tone. “Want to test that out?”

She didn’t have anything to lose, so she put them into her face.

To her surprise, the lines, dots and scribbles faded away.

She was able to look at the world like everyone else once more.

“You have to keep them all the time, except when you sleep, and you will probably have a better life without that much trouble.” Said Eraserhead, before taking a breath, in order to ask a new question. “My name is Shouta Aizawa, and I’m a hero. Would you like to live with me and the rest of the kind people at Yuuei?”

Yes.

Yes.

“Yes…” Said Eri, before crying through her glasses. “I promise I’ll be good…”

“We will never treat you like that monster did, that I promise on my life.” Answered Eraserhead before taking a small handkerchief to dry her tears.

That was the start of her new life, and for the next years, she would experience tons of different emotions, learning the meaning of life itself.

* * *

After awaking from her daydream, she found she was outside the agency.

She was really lucky there weren’t any cars, otherwise things would’ve been way darker.

Forgetting those thoughts, she entered to building to watch that her best friend Kouta was there, alongside with their boss and employer, Touko Aozaki.

She had red hair which was pulled into a ponytail alongside red eyes, and she wore a white long sleeved shirt with brown reddish jeans, and brown high heeled shoes.

Her appearance was similar to the retired R-Rated Heroine, Midnight, albeit she was far more conservative in her choice of clothing, and they even had similar ages, being in their early forties.

“Welcome back, Eri.” Said Touko in a caring tone. “Are you both ready to start gathering some research?”

After nodding, the heroic duo went up to read some material based on the teens who took their lives in their building.

It seemed like some of them suffered more than others… But, for some reason, the abuse happened to them in middle school, being the mutant quirked boy the least abused, the non-binary person a bit more, and the quirkless girl was the most abused of the three.

Their medical records said that they were going to therapy to cope with their abusive experiences, being the quirkless girl the only one who was taking anti-depressants (Sertraline), so she had to carry a handkerchief to prevent any bouts of nausea…

Also, most of their abusers ended up being punished, suspended and expelled (only the worst three of them), but sadly, they didn’t seem to have big support networks, some of them being average at best, or almost non-existent at most.

Nao was mourned by their parents and two childhood best friends, Haruki was mourned by his maternal uncle and two high school best friends… While Nanako only had her father, because her childhood best friend died in a car accident a year before the incident.

“Touko-sensei, I have a question.” Said Kouta, wishing to share a possible discovery that would help them solve the case.

“Sure, ask everything you want.” Answered Touko, while taking a lollipop to eat it, since it was her way to cope with her old cigarette addiction, because she had a great risk to develop cancer, so she didn’t want to push her luck.

“Those three suffered a lot in their lives… But somehow they were managing to cope out with different experiences at the same time so, it’s like Satsuki said, those feelings were increased to the point they saw no other exit than ending their own existences.” Shared Kouta, hoping this would bring some answers the city needed so much.

“If that’s true, then we should put road advertisements warning people with mental health issues to not go there under any circumstances…” Added Eri, using some techniques her father taught her to prevent damage, and learning how to use the media was one of them.

“That’s the thing about mankind, deep inside, at our core, we’re all selfish.” Said Touko, while throwing her lollipop stick to a nearby trash can. “Some less than others, of course, but most people do things because they want to survive and ensure the most benefits for them.”

The Magic Maker started to share her thoughts about the issue, saying that despite the efforts of many pro-heroes to stop bullying and other forms of abuse, someone would still do so in the future, because it’s in human nature the desire for conflict… And that no one could truly save everyone.

Many tried in the past, including the deceased Toshinori Yagi, formerly known as All Might and the Symbol of Peace, who cared so much about others, that he tried to carry the weight of the world in his shoulders, which ended up destroying him because he thought everyone else was more important…

But even so, he couldn’t be everywhere, he couldn’t handle many issues, he couldn’t see or sense where someone was in danger…

Even now, where Deku is one of the Symbols of Peace, alongside many others heroes in Japan, where they share their burdens together, conflict would always remain in humanity’s heart.

Finally, even while those people were trying to heal from the damage life itself inflicted on them, they still were affected by that issue, and with that suggestion quirk fully opening those wounds again… They simply had no chance to fight.

“Let’s report this to Deku and his friends before they go tonight.” Said Touko, while she started to type an email to his ally and friend. “If that quirk is locked in the building, we should demolish it only after taking away that person, or even a spirit which could be influencing others, plus we will need rescue heroes with no mental health issues to prevent more suicides as well.”

After nodding, both kids decided to return to the dorm to report their findings to Eraserhead and Present Mic, but not before thanking Touko for her advice and support, since at least if another person tried to end their lives near the building, many pro heroes would be there to stop and save them.

“Do you think it could be a spirit?” Asked Kouta in a worried tone. “It would make sense in many ways…”

“I’m not sure, Kouta-kun…” Answered Eri. “But in this world where humans can have unique powers, the concept of spirits or other otherworldly beings could not be so farfetched to be real, don’t you think?”

The rest of their road back to Yuuei was made in silence, but they were supporting each other silently, knowing that they had someone they could rely on and they wouldn’t be alone in this.

When they entered to Yuuei, someone hugged them from behind, a kind and comforting presence… The Number One Hero: Deku.

“I’m glad to see you two again!” Said Izuku, who was in his green hero costume, and carried some extra equipment for rescue, since he could use both “ **Float** ” and “ **Blackwhip** ” to catch someone who were to fall in midair, but he still needed to be careful.

“Great to see you too, Deku-niichan.” Said Eri while thanking the first person that ever showed her true kindness and friendship, the one who helped both her and Kouta to find light and hope in the world. “Did you get Touko-sensei’s mail?”

“Yeah, I did.” Said Izuku, albeit she noticed he was a bit… Nervous?

Nah, it must be her imagination, because Deku always saves people with a smile!

“I’ll be going to the city to enter the building alongside a hero team so please, take care of yourselves!” Said Izuku before flying to the Fujou building… With him leading the investigation, things will surely fix up in no time!

“I think we should have dinner.” Said Eri. “Dad left some Mexican food bases for burritos, would you like one?”

After nodding, both went to their common room to start preparing their food, unaware that everything would change again in just a few minutes…

* * *

Izuku Midoriya was outside the Fujou building, alongside Tsuyu Asui and Hanta Sero, while some of their close friends and agency partners were also there, including Ochaco “Uravity” Uraraka, Tenya “Ingenium II” Iida, Katsuki “Dynamight” Bakugo and Eijirou “Red Riot” Kirishima.

For some reason… That building gave him shivers to his very core.

Something was really wrong with that place.

After Touko told him that people with current or former mental health issues shouldn’t go there… He was nervous.

He already surpassed all of his issues, he made peace with Kacchan, he had a quirk, he had friends, he wasn’t alone anymore…

Besides, One for All helped him break Shinsou’s mind control, right? Surely this would be similar.

“Let’s remember the plan.” Said Izuku. “Cellophane, Froppy and I will go investigate the building, while you all will surround it in four corners, just in case another person tries to go up there.”

When everyone nodded, the three heroes finally went inside the building…

What used to be a beautiful shopping mall, was now in ruins. The entire place was rotten and covered in brownish oxide color, with some mold in the walls as well.

It certainly looked like something brought out of a terror movie…

“Hahahahaha.” Said a whisper in the building, something like a mocking laugh filling their ears.

“Did you guys heard that?” Asked Hanta in a scared tone, while he tried to stop his teeth from chattering.

“Yes, I think it must be that person’s quirk.” Answered Tsuyu. “We should take the elevator.”

After they entered the old elevator to take them into the thirteenth floor, Izuku was thinking about different possibilities and courses of action to take, such as stopping them with Blackwhip to then deliver the villain into Tartarus, or even calling for more support…

“ACK!” Growled Izuku as he grabbed his head, filling an immense sense of dread coming from the rooftop…

Whatever it was there, it wasn’t human, not at all.

As they stepped out of the elevator, they saw something that froze their blood…

A young woman with bluish-black hair and dark eyes was floating in the sky, only dressed in a long sleeved white dress, surrounded by three other people…

The three suicide victims.

“You almost took my sister!” Screamed Tsuyu while beginning to cry. “Why are you doing this?!”

“Fall.”

Both her and Izuku suddenly went paralyzed, not being able to move an inch.

“Fall.”

“No… I’m not alone anymore, I’m not!” Said Tsuyu while trying to break free.

“Fall.”

“I’m not weak anymore, as I can protect myself, I can protect people!” Said Izuku, but the feelings were growing stronger and stronger.

“FALL.”

Izuku saw his life flash before his eyes, before showing him an alternate timeline or illusion of sorts…

He was the same age, but he was thin and scrawny, dressed as a salaryman, with only a briefcase as his company, hanging very close to the rooftop itself…

“Mom’s gone.” Said the alternate Izuku, while beginning to cry. “I don’t have anyone else anymore…”

As he began to take off his shoes, he remembered the words Kacchan said to him almost a decade ago.

“ **If you really want to be a hero, there’s something you should do. Take a swan dive off the roof, and pray for a quirk in your next life!** ”

It seemed that he would take that advice.

“Dynamight…” Murmured Alternate Izuku. “I hope the best for you, and thank you for telling me the truth.”

After that, he jumped into the void, praying for a quirk in his next life…

“ **FALL.** ”

Izuku could no longer control himself, so he started to walk into the rooftop…

“Deku, please stop!” Pleaded Cellophane while stopping him with his tape. “Don’t let her control you!”

Meanwhile, Froppy somewhat managed to stop the feeling, but she was very exhausted…

“Everyone, please go to the east side of the building.” She murmured as she asked for help. “Deku’s probably going to fall…”

“ **FALL!** ”

Izuku broke Hanta’s tape to keep walking into the void, being trapped in his worst fears of loneliness, indifference and rejection.

“ **FALL!** ”

People only cared about him because of his quirk, and no one but his mom, Kacchan, Eraserhead, Eri, Nedzu, Recovery Girl and Mirio knew about his former quirkless status.

He never truly opened up with them, did he?

“ **FALL!** ”

“ **FALL!** ”

However, very soon, all of that wouldn’t matter… Because he was going to be in peace.

“ **FALL!** ”

“ **FALL!** ”

“ **FALL!** ”

He was ready to go, when a piece of tape stopped his left arm, and a giant tongue stopped his right one.

“Please, Izuku!” Begged Tsuyu as she started to cry. “Ignore her, whatever she’s showing you, it’s not real!”

“Yeah man, we care about you!” Added Hanta as he supported him. “You can do this!”.

He felt One for All flowing through his body, breaking the mental link in the process.

But that energy output took its toll.

As he began to fall into a coma, his last thoughts were…

“I should have been more open…”

* * *

When Eri and Kouta received that dreaded call from Eraserhead, their thoughts were focused only in a single focus.

Defeat that ghost woman, and bring her to justice for what she did to Izuku and those three teenagers, albeit Kouta was very scared about facing a foe like that.

Both Tsuyu and Hanta brought him into the floor, where his friends started crying for him, before rushing him to the nearest hospital to get proper medical treatment, even his mother was already going to take care of him.

“The only way he could’ve been attacked like that…” Mentioned Kouta, silently praying for his thoughts being false. “Is if he endured an immense depression or similar disorder in his youth…”

“He probably did, but knowing him, he didn’t want to burden anyone.” Said Eri, while she prepared her backpack for a journey into that building.

She had her trusty knife, some water, bandages and a small medical kit, including some candies to keep her stamina going.

“Are you crazy?!” Asked Kouta. “We don’t stand a chance against that woman!”

“There’s nothing she could do to me to make me fall, Kouta…” Answered Eri as she took away her glasses, showing that her eyes were no longer red, but instead had a bluish-purple tone, before putting them back in their place, as if she tried to prove a point. “I’ve already seen death tons of times, so I’m the most capable to stop her, it’s the most logical thing.”

“If you want that, maybe I should go with you.” Said Eraserhead as he entered the room, where he probably heard all of their conversation. “Your uncle Hizashi and Mirio said they would also help, as they’ll be arriving in a few minutes.”

Mirio-san was the second person who showed Eri genuine kindness, while her dad was the third one… After what happened a few years ago, her respect for Mirio only grew more and more.

* * *

She was only six years old when the war started… And threatened to take everything away from her.

In her quirk lessons with Izuku a few months before it began, she learned a lot more about her quirks… In fact, both of them were very, very strong.

But she could only use them for a maximum of an hour per day, so she wouldn’t be suitable for hero work… He theorized that limit could be extended to at least two hours, but more than that would probably kill her via strain.

Rewind could restore almost anything to a previous state, making it perfect to heal people and restore furniture… But her second quirk was the scariest quirk he had ever seen. Scary, yes, but he was sure it had the potential to do good in the world.

Anything she ended up cutting its lines, black dots or scribbles… Could not be restored by Rewind.

“Those lines are probably death…” Said Izuku as he was muttering and taking notes. “Somehow, you can understand that concept and eliminate almost anything, but at the same time, it takes a huge toll on your body…”

Fruit, tables, chairs, flowers, trees, concrete, steel and many inorganic materials were able to be killed, and she was sure she could end animals and humans if she tried (but she would never hurt another living being, so trying was out of the question).

Chisaki was somewhat right, after all… Both of her quirks were monstrous…

“Eri, with both of those quirks, you could become the best doctor in history.” Said Izuku as he finished his notes. “You could see the state of someone with those lines, to then Rewind them to a point where they’ll be better, so it will come handy if you were to choose that career path.”

He ended up being right, after all…

A few months after that, when everyone returned from fighting in the Paranormal Liberation War, she saw her entire world collapse…

Mirio lost one of his hands, Nejire’s left side was burned, Tamaki was malnourished, her father lost his leg and was carried out to the colosseum with many serums and blood bags, and Izuku…

His entire body was charred, swollen and beaten, and his left arm was so pulverized that he would probably lose it… It didn’t help that many of his friends were in similar states as well.

She knew she had to do something, so she took out her glasses to see their lines.

Most of them were very close to death judging by those black codes in their bodies… Deep down, she knew she couldn’t save everyone, so she tried to heal those closest to her, and then anyone else she could to ease their pain.

She could only rewind the Big Three, her father, Izuku, Kacchan and that Shoto guy, before collapsing because of anemia…

After she woke up, she found out many heroes passed away.

Endeavor, Gran Torino, Hawks and Mirko were among those who moved on to the other world, while others like Mount Lady, Kamui Woods, Midnight, Best Jeanist and Ryuukyu survived…

She wasn’t strong enough… She wasn’t…

“Little Eri, you did your best.” Said her uncle Hizashi while trying to console her. “You saved people, and that’s what matters, if you used more of your power you could’ve died as well…”

“But isn’t that what heroes do?!” She practically growled. “Doesn’t they give everything to save as many people as they can?”

“Of course but… If they’re hurt of broken, they won’t be able to save others, so that’s why they need to take care of themselves, so they can protect others too.”

That conversation saved her from having a hero/martyr complex in the future…

* * *

Since she only saved them from dying, they still had some scars, albeit not as much as they had before… Touko-sensei made some prosthesis for those who lost limbs, and since they were very similar to human tissue, their bodies didn’t reject them at all.

Mirio took the task to heal and support both Nejire and Tamaki, never abandoning them despite their multiple relapses into depression.

He eventually recognized he was depressed too, so he ended up going to therapy as well.

Shigaraki and the Paranormal Liberation Front somehow… Disappeared, as they haven’t been seen for an entire decade.

If he was only at ¾ of his true power… She was unable to imagine what would happen after ten years of further experimentation.

Izuku started to train like crazy, to the point he’s now at least eight times stronger than All Might was in his prime, ready to fight against his fated foe whenever the time arrived.

And since he was wounded, she needed to wake him up before it was too late…

“We’re here!” Said Present Mic as he entered the room alongside Lemillion, the Number Two Hero.

“Kouta, if you want you can stay.” Said Eraserhead. “That doesn’t make you a coward.”

“Izuku-niichan was scared when he fought Muscular just to save me… If I didn’t do the same for him, I would be unworthy to be called his friend.” Said Kouta, who tried to swallow his fear to save his friend and brother. “Just let me take some equipment to make fog, ice and mist.”

After he packed his stuff in a backpack, the three heroes and two detectives in training decided to take Yuuei’s school bus to go into Fujou’s building.

Apparently, that place had a very haunting story…

Eraserhead said that Touko uncovered some vital information about the origins of that place, the most important one being that their entire family was dead…

Kirie Fujou, who died at 17 years-old by suicide, after her parents and little brother were killed in a car accident, her best friend up dying of cancer a few months after that, and being diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disease that would’ve killed her in years…

Her quirk was “ **Astral Overshadow** ”, which allowed her soul to move freely when she was sleeping, give suggestions to other people, and even partially control their bodies.

Sadly, she was ostracized by everyone, except her best friend, who had a quirk that allowed her to see and change other’s emotions in a synesthetic like way, as well as her parents and little brother, but after she lost them… She lost against life itself.

Somehow, it made sense for her to take revenge against the world but, why did she do so against people who suffered like her in similar ways?

No one was sure but, they would probably find out soon.

When they arrived, the building was as empty as it used to be, since they thought many heroes would be in danger of suicide attempt… And a huge printed message was outside the main door.

“ **BEWARE: THERE’S A GHOST IN THIS BUILDING.** ”

After taking few breaths before deciding to enter, they started to hear that horrible laugh both Froppy and Cellophane mentioned…

**“Ha.”**

**“Haha”.**

**“Hahaha.”**

**“HAHAHAHA.”**

“ **SHUT THE HELL UP!** ” Growled Present Mic into the building, and his scream stopped those murmurs, allowing silence to reign once more. “Come on, there’s an elevator there.”

Inside the elevator, they wondered if they could defeat a being so strong that it brought the Number One Hero to his knees…

They had to, for his sake, for those three teenagers and for Japan as a whole…

When they reached out the thirteenth floor, Eri managed to sense a presence near the rooftop.

“ **Kirie Fujou.** ” She said, loud enough to make the deceased woman manifest herself, alongside the victim’s spirits as well.

“Fall.”

Eri felt that influence into her brain, but she easily ignored as she started to walk towards her.

“Kouta, attack her with some powdered ice, Mirio-san, make yourself intangible to grab her, Uncle Hizashi, if she tries to suggest something to us yell as hard as you can… Dad, after Mirio grabs her, please try to stop her quirk, and then I’ll take care of her once and for all.”

“ **FALL.** ”

“You know that you can’t make me desire death, because I’ve been partially dead more times than I can count, right?” Asked Eri as she took off her red glasses, activating her Mystic Eyes of Death Perception.

“ **FALL.** ”

“I never knew what it felt to be alive, but I felt the pain of living every single day, until three people showed me that true kindness existed in this rotten world.” Said Eri. “You also took three innocent lives, and endangered more people dear to me, so for that you shall pay the price.”

As the three other ghosts approached the hero team, Kouta used his water condenser to make a small blizzard, stopping them in their tracks, while Eri approached them and used her Rewind quirk to free them from Kirie’s control, allowing them to truly rest in peace and move on into their next lives, to then focus into her final enemy.

“ **FALL!** ”

To her surprise, Lemillion ran as fast as he could to become intangible, allowing him to catch Kirie’s ghost, falling with her to the ground, while Eraserhead negated her quirk, and somewhat… That calmed her face expression, making her look quite serene, almost as she awoke from a very long dream.

“Where am I?” Asked Kirie. “What am I doing here?”

“Don’t you remember anything?” Asked Present Mic, trying to be the voice of reason.

“The last I remember was taking a swan dive from this roof…” Answered Kirie, and her words made everyone else shiver in their cores.

Those actions… Were probably made by her subconscious mind, the “ **Id** ”, as Sigmund Freud called it, the part that only wanted to satisfy the deepest desires of everyone, and it didn’t care about rules or morals or codes at all, as it lived to avoid pain and obtain pleasure in the process.

“You drove three teens into their deaths, nearly killed one of my best friends and my big brother figure…” Said Eri, while being angry.

“That… That wasn’t my intention, I only wanted them to notice me, to become my friends, this wasn’t supposed to happen…” Murmured Kirie as she started to cry. “

“People say that ghosts are more vulnerable to absorbing negative energies…” Said Eraserhead as he tried to stop blinking. “Years of resentment, both yours and those from other people, probably brought to surface the darkest part of your soul, and if I were to stop my quirk… It will come back.”

“Then kill…” Said Kirie before she stopped herself, before giving the creepiest grin the group of five people had ever seen in their lives, that even Eraserhead blinked, allowing Kirie’s evil counterpart to take control once more.

“ **FALL!** ”

“ **FALL!** ”

“ **FALL!** ”

The evil spirit growled before punching Lemillion in the face, allowing herself to be free, before attacking those who were vulnerable to mental health issues, such as Eraserhead and Kouta, whom both fell into the ground clutching their heads in pain.

“ **LEAVE THEM ALONE!** ” Growled Present Mic at full power, sending the ghost flying away and easing the pressure on his best friend and student’s heads.

When the ghost recovered, it went to attack Present Mic in order to possess his body, but Lemillion punched her into the stomach, knocking her out for a while, but when she recovered again, she looked downright murderous…

“You seem to have a kind heart underneath all of that anger and hatred…” Said Eri as she was taking her special knife… “And even after all you’ve done, I don’t think your true self might be able to live or face punishment so… I shall grant you freedom.”

Eri suddenly ran against Kirie’s ghost, who kept screeching at her to fall into the oblivion, to die, to let herself go, but in the end, she managed to ignore her long enough to finally stab her into her heart, destroying her main death point and her darkest side in the process.

She would die.

She would never reincarnate again.

She was going to fade away into oblivion.

And she was… Fine with that.

“Thank you…” Said Kirie before kissing Eri’s forehead, apparently transferring some of her memories into her. “Please tell Deku I’m sorry I never helped him…”

And she began her final fall into the building… As her ghostly body was fading away into particles of blue fire and white lilies, Kirie Fujou finally found peace.

“Mom, Dad, Haru, Kaori…” She said before she fully faded away. “I hope you can forgive me for everything I’ve ever done…”

“She’s gone…” Said Eraserhead before approaching Eri, who stood still looking at the void, while silent tears adorned her face.

“I understand why she did that… And she told me about Izuku’s past…”

Sadly, her anemia kicked in and she passed out, so Lemillion took her into his arms to carry her until they could get out of the building, before going to the same hospital Deku was healing, to see if he finally woke up.

* * *

Eri woke up in a hospital bed once again, looking into the white ceiling, and feeling the cold breeze of an air conditioning device in her skin…

It was like that fateful day, once more.

“Thank you, Eri.” Said a voice Eri truly wanted to hear no matter what.

Izuku’s voice.

“You saved me, thanks to you and all of them I’m still alive.” He was unable to hide his happiness, to the point he almost started to cry.

“I know about your past, Izuku.” Said Eri, making Izuku’s mind go blank for a second, before returning to normal once more. “That ghost… She said she used to know you…”

“She used to study in Aldera Junior High, in a different class from Izuku’s, of course.” Said Touko as she entered into the room with Eraserhead and Kouta, who wanted to know about the origin of that spirit… “Her quirk was considered villainous, so she only had one true friend, who had a quirk of similar nature, so both of them stuck together.”

“After graduating, her family’s company started to lose their actions and assets, so they had to declare bankrupt.” Added Eraserhead. “One day when she was ill, her parents and little brother were killed in a car accident, and six months after that, her best friend, who had been fighting leukemia, passed away as well.”

“It’s true…” Said Eri. “In her memories, that stress accelerated a neurodegenerative disease, to the point doctors told her she would go blind and lose mobility on her legs, so she couldn’t take it anymore… In the end, she took her remaining money to support her best friend’s parents since she didn’t have more living relatives, before taking her own life…”

“Kirie…” Murmured Izuku, who finally remembered her as the short haired girl from another class who hanged out another girl with bright pink hair and red eyes… They never insulted him or treated him badly, but they never approached him either.

“Problem Adult…” Said Aizawa while looking at Izuku. “You could have said something.”

“I know sensei; I know…” Said Izuku while looking away. “Deep inside, I didn’t want to be pitied or treated as if I were diseased, neither I wanted to destroy Kacchan’s dream, so I did what I had to do.”

“Damn nerd, always thinking about everyone but yourself…” Said Katsuki as he entered into the room, followed by Izuku’s mother, the kind hearted and round woman called Inko Midoriya. “I know I already apologized but, I’m sorry for all the pain I put you through, to the point that damn woman’s quirk was able to control you…”

“Katsuki, what you did was truly wrong, and I expect to know the whole truth…” Said Inko in a neutral tone, but implying her desire. “But, you have changed, asked for forgiveness and saved my son in the war, so I’ll forgive you if you promise to make campaigns against bullying and other kinds of abuse.”

“I promise that on my life.” Answered Katsuki, before bowing towards Inko. “I’m sorry Auntie, I’ll do my best to prevent more bullying from now on.”

“Victims usually don’t say anything because they don’t want to be blamed or treated as if they bore all the blame…” Said Touko as she was eating a lollipop. “In this world, those who suffer are the ones who must pay the consequences, because if they don’t change, or can’t change, life itself will tell them they’re the ones at fault, despite knowing that their abusers usually get off scot-free.”

“That’s not fair!” Growled Kouta, as he finally decided to speak about all of this. “It explains why there are so many villains in the planet… They were betrayed by everything, so they did what they had to in order to survive.”

“Not all of them, since some are truly evil, and can only find pleasure in hurting other people.” Added Eraserhead. “But it’s true, if they could’ve had a support system, they wouldn’t have fallen into darkness.”

“Good things happen to good people, and bad things happen to bad people.” Said Touko while throwing her lollipop stick into the trash. “Some people see everything as good and bad, light and darkness, white and black and so on, so if bad things happen to good people… They would try to justify it, saying that they probably deserved it, because they refuse to release their ideals and reality foundations.”

“Also… They always put self-love as the only thing that matters, when in reality, it’s only one of the types of love we human beings need to survive.” Added Inko in a sad tone. “Love from family, from friends, from a romantic partner for those who have them, from life itself… And finally, from ourselves. If people were to lose everything, living solely through their own self-love would be very difficult…”

“It doesn’t help that victims are always being invalidated, although today is not as much as it used to be at the dawn of quirks back in 2.020…” Said Izuku. “In order to change this society, we must tell people that everybody needs love and kindness, and to learn how to control their words and actions, because everything we do might bring consequences to someone else…”

“I remembered something I read about human rights a few months ago…” Said Eri in a firm tone. “Every single person, no matter their race, gender, sexual orientation, economical situation, type of quirk, or even lack of one… Everyone deserves respect, compassion and kindness, so we need to show that to people, to make the path for a world where at least people will have more peaceful lives.”

“In the end, there are two ways to escape, one of without a purpose, and the other is to have one. The first one is called floating, and the second is called flying.” Said Touko as she took another lollipop. “It’s a mistake to choose a road based on the sins we bear in our hearts, but instead, we should bear our sins into a path we choose without letting them influence that choice at all.”

Their conversation ended up releasing some wounds, but all the people in the room would be able to heal and find new perspectives about life itself.

Eventually, they found out that both the Dekusquad and Bakusquad would come to celebrate Izuku’s recovery, and their other classmates sent gifts and homemade cards to wish him good health, letting him know that he was loved and cherished by others.

It would take at least two hours for them to arrive, so after most people left, only Izuku, Kouta and Eri remained in the same room.

“Izu-niichan…” Said Eri. “Have you ever wanted to die?”

“Yes… I wanted to, because living as a quirkless person meant pity at best, or tons of abuse at worst…” Answered Izuku, his face aging at least ten years by doing so. “But now, even if I don’t fully love myself, the love I have for my mom, my friends, my teachers and my little brother and sister… Is more than enough to keep me going.”

“We will always be there for you, even if we both have to take down Shigaraki in the process.” Said Kouta in a determined tone. “He will never hurt you anymore, I swear…”

“If that ever happens, my “ **Spider-Sense** ” would probably tell me, so don’t worry for now.” Said Izuku, remembering that he named that quirk after Spider-Man’s ability, a kindhearted fictional hero from the pre-quirk era.

“So, is there anything you both would like to eat?” Asked Kouta in a concerned tone.

“A bowl of katsudon would be fine…” Answered Izuku while blushing a little, remembering how many times having a warm plate of food everyday saved him from despair.

“Strawberry…” Answered Eri. “Strawberry Ice Cream would be fine.”

“But Eri, you already ate dairy two times this month!” Said Kouta. “Are you sure you’ll be okay?”

“Kouta-kun, we survived against a quirked spirit, so I think eating some ice cream won’t hurt me.” Said Eri after smiling at her best friend.

“In that case wait up, I’ll return in half an hour.” Said the young boy before leaving the room.

“Izu-niichan.” Said Eri once more as she lifted her pinky finger. “Pinky promise me that you’ll share your pains with your loved ones from now on.”

“Yeah…” Said Izuku, lifting his own finger as well. “That I promise to you, Eri-chan. I promise I’ll fully trust people’s hearts until I draw my last breath.”

They both survived different types of hell, they both used to be unloved… But now, they’re loved by many people, just like they love them as well.

Eri Aizawa and Izuku Midoriya would certainly be fine, because of the connections they had with other people, their hearts would shine in a soft blue color, since they can finally rest their defenses and have a well-deserved peace.


End file.
